An Everyday Occurance
by parsnip
Summary: [oneshot]The 8th Division has been swamped with work as they take up the slack from several divisions in the wake of betrayal. Shunsui worries that the extra stress has caused Nanao to neglect her health, prompting him to take matters into his own hands.


**An Everyday Occurrence**

Shunsui gazed with concern at his vice-captain who just so happened to be sitting at her desk, deep in thought, with a pen delicately rubbing back and forth across her lips. Normally the erotic movement would have had him panting from beneath the welcome shade of his straw hat, but not today. Today, he was more concerned with how thin and haggard she was becoming rather then the image of him plucking that deliciously naughty pen out of her hands in order to smooth the skin of her lips with his thumb, even though he would love to do that anyways.

Mentally groaning, he pushed the image from his thoughts and focused again on the object of his worry. It was not uncommon for him to admire Ise Nanao's trim figure which she maintained with nightly work out sessions. What annoyed him was that it was just a tad too thin from all the meals she forgot to eat. It was his mission in life to distract her from work with sake and delicacies to quench her pallet, and Shunsui was more then happy to aid his irate vice-captain in the eating thereof if she refused to leave her work long enough to fulfill that necessity.

His lips curled at the many memories of hand feeding her over a stack of reports and ledgers. Usually, he ended up with half the food on himself and a grumpy Nanao-chan, but at least she took the time to eat, even if it was at her desk. He liked to think she did it for him rather then because he forced her to. Unfortunately, she liked hiding his sake when she was finished, determined to keep him sober in return for the favor.

It was a give and take relationship, really, his drinking and her attempts to get him to quit. It was an additional bonus that the game they played allowed him to get close enough to her so he could force feed her from time to time without her ever knowing the true extent of his concern. He knew from the long years spent working side-by-side that a tray of food was more likely to sit on the edge of her desk then in her lean stomach unless he forced the issue.

He tugged the edge of his hat down lower on his face to cover the frown that came to stay upon his lips. Lately, she seemed to be drooping with fatigue, her body gaunt rather then trim. She was pushing herself to hard to keep up with the extra work as Sereitei rushed to reorganize itself and prepare for a war they were ill equipped to handle, at least not with a nearly one fourth of their captains turned traitor.

And now, with so many of the remaining Captains and Vice Captains spending time Earth side, it was even doubly tiresome. It was making his Nanao-chan sick and himself worried. He hated feeling worried.

Shunsui's brow furrowed as he continued to contemplate his Vice Captain at work. They had such an odd relationship from the very beginning with Nanao always trying to stay unnoticed but working hard to improve herself. If he hadn't been one to take evening strolls and seen first hand the midnight oil she burned and her talent for Kidou, she might not have risen to the rank of Vice Captain as quickly as she had.

That she had beguiled him went unsaid, that she continued to do so after so many years proved her worth in his eyes. That she could refuse his flirtations time and time again while indulging his sense of theatrics made him fall in love with her. And now, he was about to embark on a crusade to keep his dear Nanao-chan in good health.

He wasn't willing to find out how dull life could be without her hounding his every step and discovering just how far she would go to get him to do his fair share of the work, which he usually did anyways. He just liked waiting until the end of the week when he went at it in a mad rush of dedication, everything neatly arranged and organized to make things easier by his indispensable Vice-captain.

Kyouraku abruptly stood up from his mat on the floor where he had been watching his Nanao-chan get even more absorbed in her work and strode out of sight. He'd make sure she had the evening off, even if he had to do all the paperwork for the 10th division as well as his own ahead of his self-imposed deadline. But first, he was going to make sure she ate something.

—/—

Nanao shifted in her chair, allowing her eyes to glance up from the report on the Allankar attacks from the previous night. It revealed pertinent information on their abilities and of what forms their version of shinkai and bankai could take. Now she needed to analyze and evaluate their danger level and attempt to formulate a battle strategy from the information Captain Hitsugaya collected from each of the impromptu squad members. It was going to be a long night and her captain wasn't helping her much, lying on the floor and staring at her.

She wondered, idly as she rubbed the smooth edge of her pen against the skin of her lip, if she would ever get used to his heavy gaze when he thought she wasn't paying attention. It was those glances that unnerved her more then any form of flirtation ever could because it was in those moments she felt his very real concern for her wellbeing. It was usually that or another fiendish plot to get her to lighten up by one outlandish plot or another.

Those were easily solved by hitting him with whatever objected seemed most handy, usually the ledger she kept on hand detailing each division, their number, specialties, and a tally of the supplies they requested on a weekly basis. It was an indispensable reference that she could hardly do without, even if she had memorized a good two thirds of the data.

Pushing her wire-rimmed glasses firmly back up her nose, she watched from the corner of her eye as the final billow of Kyouraku Shunsui's flashy over-kimono disappeared around the corner of the door and wondered to what new mischief he was up to. It was probably something to do with her and eating. The man was obsessed with her diet, pressing anything and everything he could get his hands on into her stomach, including the wretched sake he took so much delight in.

She looked down at herself, the forgotten report hanging limply in her hands. She didn't think she was that thin for him to be so worried. Tilting her head, she acknowledged that her shinigami robes were a little looser then usual on her frame, and her muscle tone was beginning to wane a little, but it was to be expected with the hours she kept in an attempt to analyze and dissect and keep up with the unfamiliar duties of another division, mostly the 10th, while Captain Hitsugaya and Vice-Captain Matsumoto were off as the front runners to an inevitable battle.

Still, her heart mellowed just a little thinking of the tender attention her captain delighted in bestowing upon her every since Rukia's execution was thwarted. It wasn't often her captain allowed her to see his serious side, especially where she, herself was concerned. A little smile creased her lips as she neatly set the report down on her desk before resting her chin in the cradle of her clasped hands. It had felt good to actually see Kyouraku acting like a captain for once, rather then hiding behind a façade all the time, and she could still remember the look of remorse he bestowed on her as he took her out of the immediate surplus of the First Captain's reiatsu. His arms had felt so strong around her body…

"Nanao-chan!" His high-pitched flirtatious voice filtered into the room from across the shoji screens as he slide them open and closed again. "I've brought some food for you," he salaciously exclaimed pulling a side table closer to Nanao's desk. He wasn't going to allow her to 'accidentally' spill the tray by making more 'room' on her desk by 'pushing' a stack of papers out of the way like she had the day before.

"I'm busy," she muttered, keeping her eyes firmly trained on the report at hand. She wasn't about to let him see the slight uplift of her mouth as it curved into a smile.

Shunsui watched her at work for a few minutes, planning his next course of action. It was a battleground well traversed before after all, and a new tactic was called for if he wanted to see victory. His eyes were drawn to the steady scratching of parchment as her pen was carefully drawn against the parchment. Lips curling in fiendish amusement, he plucked the loosely held utensil from her grasp and held it above his head in childish play.

Rolling her eyes, Nanao swiped a new pen from her hidden stash in a side drawer. He was obsessed with her pens as well. She had yet to figure out where that particular fetish came from.

"I'm busy," she repeated as she kept a firmer grip on her pen and continued to write notes on a side paper for later reflection. She had a feeling that before this investigation was completed, she would have enough notes to make her own book separate from the massive report 12th division was no doubt creating.

Nanao frowned. She hated meeting the 12th division captain with his horrible mask and sadistic tendencies in the pursuit of science. Nemu she could handle, the vice captain's 'father' she could not. It never helped that Shunsui was normally absent from those meetings or intent on getting his fellow captain drunk on bad sake.

Shunsui frowned in retaliation. He hated being ignored above all things, and Nanao was a mastermind at pushing his buttons just right. Snatching up a sushi roll with a pair of chopsticks held in one hand, he used his other to pry open Nanao's mouth. Surprise on his side, he grinned as he stuffed the delicately wrapped tuna between her pert lips.

"Eat," he said, grabbing another morsel from the tray. "Your health is just as important as that report." Holding the offering in front of her face, he sighed in satisfaction as she obediently ate from his chopsticks although her look betrayed the mutinous thoughts behind the action. Sliding his head closer to her own, he whispered into her ears, "Besides, do you really want me to take care of you when you collapse from malnutrition? If so, I'm more then willing to lock you in my rooms right now, my lovely Nanao-chan."

Heat rose to her cheeks, nearly undoing Shunsui's resolve to simply tease rather then carry out his threat. Snatching the utensils from Shunsui's hand, she dug into the food he had brought, ignoring his presence as best she could until the blush faded from her face.

Smiling in satisfaction, Shunsui returned to his place on the floor, the afternoon sun beating down on his body from the skylight above. He needed to recoup his strength for the battle he would no doubt face later that night and an afternoon nap would do the trick quite nicely. As the warm sunlight worked its magic to relax his body, he wondered if she would perhaps let him help her out with her exercises after her work was finished. He could think of a way or two to make her tired enough to fall deeply asleep.

Grinning, he fell into a dream of his beautifully stubborn vice-captain.


End file.
